At an open day on March 25 at the MacOwan Theatre, Earl's Court, Scene Change, a specialist creator of still and animated digital video images, will demonstrate how life-like effects can be brought to the stage. Technical Director Nigel Sadler says: "It's already been embraced by nightclubs, but it's the next big thing for the theatre. This year, we're likely to see it begin to take off in the world of theatre lighting."
"There's so much more that can be done with it. We can create 'real' rain, 'real' snow, moving water, a sun rising -the possibilities are endless." The theatre world has been slower to pick up on the technology, whose uses include visual displays at clubs, live concerts and exhibitions. According to Sadler, that is set to change now that video projectors have increased in brightness and affordability, combined with the launch of such products as High End's Systems Catalyst projector.
Scene Change, which offers a custom-design service, has created battlefield scenes, images of burning oilfields and a Wembley pop concert for Lamda's production of the musical, The Fix, which will run at the MacOwan this month. Along with custom-designed material created at its state-of-the-art digital studio, Scene Change also acts as a one-stop shop for more than 10,000 video clips from collections, such as the Artbeats Digital Film Library, Digital Juice Jumpbacks and the Digital Vision Motion clip Library.
Visitors to Scene Change's open day will have the chance to see what the company offers - and try it for themselves. The open day, which is being run with High End Systems, takes place at the MacOwan Theatre, Logan Place, Earl's Court on March 25, 1pm-4.30pm.
(Ruth Rossington)
